SUMMIT COUNTY — Regional wildfire reports once again were the most-viewed stories at Summit Voice during the past week, as this summer’s fire season continues to break records. So far, fires have burned across about 5 million acres nationwide, with the biggest blazes in Texas, Georgia, Arizona and Florida.

The monthly snow and weather stat roundup was the most-viewed story at Summit Voice the past few days.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY —Total page views dropped slightly the past week, as we weren’t as diligent about posting links on various social media channels, but the top stories cover an interesting range of topics. The most-viewed story the past few days was our weather piece on Summit County snowfall stats, where March was the fifth month in a row with above-average precipitation. For the weather to-date (Oct. 1 – March 30), there’s a 45 percent moisture surplus, at least as recorded at Rick Bly’s official National Weather Service gauge in Breckenridge.

As a social media experiment of sorts, I posted a short blurb on the discovery of the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 just shortly after the news first broke on Twitter. The story, which included links to the Air France website post that confirmed the find, quickly drew several hundred hits, as people around the world searching the web for Flight 447 stories ended up at Summit Voice. To give the story a bit more depth, we added some background on the automated submersibles used by the Woods Hole oceanographic search team.

These were the most frequently used search terms leading to Summit Voice stories: frac act, lynx, air france 447, air france flight status, индия.

Notably, one of our daily photoblogs (featuring Florida birds) also made the top five. Check the rest of the week’s top stories by clicking the headlines below, followed by the rest of last week’s headline:

The rainbow photoblog made the most-viewed list, garnering 500 hits in just a couple of days. Click on the link to see the pics.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A couple of energy stories and a report on the latest scheme to try to develop real estate at Wolf Creek Pass headed the list of most-viewed stories the past few days, as social media played a huge role in driving readers to Summit Voice. A link to our story on the renewable energy hearing in Colorado, for example, was posted by more than 20 Twitter users before we had even sent out a single tweet. Similarly, the opinion piece on renewable energy was also spread widely via Twitter and other blogs, while the story on a possible land swap that would enable real estate development at Wolf Creek was shared at numerous ski-related social web sites. A couple of climate-related stories also made the list, as did a photoblog of Summit County rainbows. See the rest on the list below, followed by a few more headlines from the past week.

Desert dust, visible as reddish discoloration, has been implicated in avalanches, and is causing the Colorado snowpack to melt suddenly and much earlier than expected, and a new study shows those desert storms may become more common as global warming causes vegetation loss in the Southwest.

Big-box imperialism, desert dust and vanishing lodgepole pines …

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The most popular story on Summit Voice last week was a report on a Lowe’s development battle in Miami-Dade County, where community and environmental groups challenged the local government’s decision to arbitrarily expand an urban development zone to enable big-box development. The ensuing court case had some similarities to a similar conflict over a proposed Lowe’s development in Silverthorne, Colorado.

A story on the potential for more frequent and intense desert dust storms that taint Colorado snow was second on the list, followed by yet another forest health story, this one outlining the potential demise of more than 80 percent of the Lodgepole pine habitat in the West. Click on the headlines below to read more and use the share buttons at the end of each story to help grow independent journalism in the Rockies.

A story about skijoring with dogs was the most-viewed story at Summit Voice last week. PHOTO BY ED KOSMICKI.

Skijoring, avalanches, snow sculpting and more at Summit Voice …

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY —A fun story on the Feb. 5 skijoring workshop at the Breckenridge Gold Run Nordic Center quickly jumped to the top of the charts in just a day, thanks to some social media help from Breckenridge Ski Area’s Twitter feed.

The story on the near-miss avalanche at Vail Pass also picked up several hundred page views in just a few days, as did the report on a proposed law (now dead) that would have reduced liability for mountain bike guides and venues, while the Randomness photoblog ranked fourth and video post by Jenney on the 11th hour snow sculpting activities rounded out the top five in the running total tally.

An important national story covered the establishment of a new scientific integrity policy at the Department of Interior, which has taken flak for the way it handled oil drilling studies and permits, and for its previous mismanagement of the endangered species program: Interior Dept. adopts new scientific integrity policy.

Weather, wildlife and the Peak 6 expansion proposal at Breckenridge dominated the most-viewed story list during the last few days

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A story on the effect of La Niña during the coming spring season was the top story at Summit Voice the past few days. In local news, a series of stories on the Peak 6 ski area expansion proposal at Breckenridge also picked up several hundred views, as did an environmental report on new research in Canada that found traces of Prozac in fish living in the St. Lawrence seaway.

The morning photoblogs continue to be popular with readers, with two editions making the top five list of most-viewed stories. Check out the rest of the top stories, along with some other headlines from the past week by clicking “read more.” Continue reading →

Lots of fresh stories at Summit Voice the last few days. Click on the headlines to read more …

SUMMIT COUNTY — A Silverthorne doctor says the recent coup in Kyrgyzstan has hampered the ability of international aid groups working to halt the spread of infections diseases in the remote central Asian country of about 5.5 million people.

SUMMIT COUNTY — New Copper Mountain owner Powdr Corp isn’t waiting to start with some resort improvements that should benefit local skiers and day-tripping Front Range visitors. The resort announced Friday it will pump $6 million into new snowmaking, with the 25 percent increase in capacity spread around the mountain, including new snowmaking in the popular Timberline area to add a big chunk of early season terrain.

Thanks to clean record for the last two years and a revamped NFL drug policy, Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller has been discharged from the league's drug program and will no longer be subject to multiple tests a week, an NFL source confirmed.

Sunday brought an uptick of intensity to the Broncos' training camp . On the eve of the first padded practice of training camp, the first "fight" broke out between defensive end Derek Wolfe and offensive tackle Ryan Harris.

TURNBERRY, Scotland (AP) — As Inbee Park hunted down Jin-Young Ko in the final stretch of the Women's British Open, it quickly became clear which South Korean was the rookie and which was the player about to add another chapter in golf's record book.